A tough call: thoughts on not culling a chicken

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From time to time good animal husbandry practice would recommend that you cull a sick animal.  I have a sick chicken and was coming to grips with that fact for a week now.

The problem?  An impacted crop.  Evidently, she had eaten something that was blocking her crop, and it had become engorged.  It was three times the normal size and…

“What did she eat?” you ask.

Who knows with chickens!  It could have been anything, a piece of plastic, some straw, a length of string or a large blade of grass, any of which can be fatal if it gets lodged at the exit of their crop.  The diagram below shows you that number 4 is the crop.  This is a pigeon’s inside view, but it is very much based on the same organs as the chicken possesses.

Photo credit HERE

You may click for greater detail or just take my word for it that it is the large organ at the base of the neck and resting at the opening of the chest cavity.  😉

In an effort to avoid further impaction which could lead to infection and death, I began a twice daily regimen of massaging my poor little barred rock‘s crop.  She didn’t like it, and squawked in protest each time.  I can’t blame her!   A couple of days during this time I felt we were making some progress, but then by Sunday she had become very weak and thin.  She had wobbly knees but was trying to eat in spite of the over-full crop.  I continued to watch her closely for signs of other sickness that would be contagious to the rest of my chickens.  While an impacted crop will not affect the others, a distressed and weakened chicken can fall ill to various pathogens in the environment. If not carefully monitored she can then spread these to the whole flock.

Monday night I went out to lock up the Chicken Palace and she was sitting low on the roost.  Her feathers were fluffed up, her head was sunken into her shoulders, and her comb had gone pale.  I expected her to be gone by morning and told Bob my suspicions.

Tuesday morning I went out to the chicken yard and tried to prepare myself to do what was necessary if she was still lingering.  I opened the door and as is always the case the girls and Grayson came bounding out looking for breakfast, and so did the little barred rock!  I watched as she drank lots of water, ate like there was no tomorrow, and nearly nosed dived each time she bent down to do so.  It was then that I noticed her comb was a bright red like is should be and her frontal profile was much reduced!

So my little Barred Rock looks awful and puny,

but she is definitely on the mend!

~*~

It was a tough call, but I’m so glad I waited before doing anything rash.

Ta-Daaa…! (things that make me happy)

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It took me a long time and not a little frustration to finally get this job done!  I have been working on the guest bathroom for months, in between other projects that is.

You will have to imagine the before picture because I can’t seem to find it.  So, imagine if you will… powder blue walls, hospital white cabinets and bead board, and all of it chipped.  The ceiling had been taped when the fan was installed, but the tape was lifting too.

But the most frustrating part, yet satisfying when it was finally done this morning was this!

(“Pay no attention to the [wo]man behind the curtain!”  The Great Oz, in The Wizard of Oz.)

I finally got the mirror installed, more or less, correctly!

Old Mr. Gains, the man who built this house in the early 1950s, was a cabinet-maker.  He built this Olympic-sized medicine cabinet into the wall and it is 42″ wide, by 37″ high, and 9 inches deep.  It’s huge and there was no way we were going to be able to replace it with anything new.  That said, I really kinda liked it and saw that it had possibilities.  So I made the one side into a shadow box!  I have far to many trinkets and this gives me a dust-free place to display some of the more interesting ones.

Steps taken to get here:

  1. Fill, sand, and paint every surface (porcelain objects excepted) Bob helped me with the ceiling by painting in the Kilz and then cutting in the two coats of ceiling paint.  (He also gave me lots of ‘atta-girl,” and a few pep talks when the going got tough.  I love him for his support when I can’t do it myself.)  🙂
  2. Have three different plumbers out to fix leaking toilet base five times, yes FiVe!   Seems the flange was broken and someone had screwed it down to the floor.  Oh, and while the last one was here, he removed the Yeti sized hair ball that was clogging the sink drain (it was hiding way down deep in the line).
  3. Clean out four layers of old contact paper from the over-sized medicine cabinet.  Two of which were painted, and one of which someone had spilled Tigress perfume!  Trust me, it does not get any better with age…
  4. Send out doors of over-sized medicine cabinet for professional stripping, and prepping for painting.
  5. Paint said doors and install glass into one side.  Install mirror on the other side, now REPEAT.  (I broke the mirror, trying to install it, the day before my friends came to visit from California.)  😐
  6. Get frustrated and bent all out of shape securing said second mirror into frame, finally give up, and use contact cement to just glue the lath onto the back for fear of having to repeat the frustration AGAIN.  (thankyouverymuch)

So now that it is all done we need to replace all of the porcelain, but do not have a budget for that.  So, maybe by the time we can finally afford it, we can pay someone else to do it?

A job well done, makes me smile even on a gloomy day.  I will smile all winter I think.

~*~

Acceptance of an award

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Way back in April, the 10th to be exact, my blogging friend Cindy of On and Over the Hills surprised me by nominating me for The Versatile Blogger Award.  I was very surprised and flattered, but unwilling to accept… too shy I guess.

Then there is the nominating of 15 other bloggers who deserve this award… good grief!  Do I even know fifteen other bloggers?

Oh, and of course there are the rules.  Five of them . . .

OK then!

These are the rules:

  1. Thank the person who honored you and give a link to their blog.
  2. Tell 7 random facts about yourself.
  3. Pass the award to 15 new-found bloggers.
  4. Contact each blogger onto whom you pass the award and let them know.
  5. Let the giver of the award know you accept it or not.

Seven Random Facts

  1. I was born in Wichita Falls, Texas.  My mother, unwilling to give birth to me alone in California, hopped on a bus, and went to be with my Dad who was stationed there.  Imagine it, nine months pregnant and riding a bus all that way!  In the 1950s!  Now imagine this:  She got there, had me, and then my Dad was shipped out two weeks later to March AFB!  Oh the irony.
  2. I am the oldest of four siblings.  At this writing my sister, the youngest, and I are the only two left.
  3. Did I mention I love gardening?
  4. How about geese?
  5. My home is furnished in vintage eclectic fashion.  I have some very old and lovely things… some days I want to push it all out to the curb and replace it with all new.   I dream of smooth surfaces, no clutter, and all bright and shiny.  Yeah sure, why don’t I just cut off my right arm while I’m at it.
  6. I love to write, but I am such a perfectionist that often much of what I type stays right here on my computer.  Blogging with all of you is helping me to get over my hesitance with chaining words into cogent thought.  (So how long does it take me to go from writing to posting?  Well, this acceptance was started in September… but I think other issues must be included in this example of tardiness. 😉 )
  7. I love to sew!  I learned how from my mother who used to take apart last year’s clothing cast-offs, from my aunt,  and remake them into lovely outfits for me to wear.  My first attempt at sewing was a dirndl skirt for my Chatty Kathy doll.  I was seven and sewed it by hand (too young to use the sewing machine).  The hem was a bit dippy, but I was so proud of it!  This summer I have begun to teach myself how to quilt and I must say it is going well, and I am loving it almost as much as writing.

Now here is where I am supposed to award and nominate fifteen other bloggers!!!  Hello… I don’t know fifteen other bloggers.  Nevertheless, I chose these lovely people whose interests are close to my heart:

  1. Creekwood Farm ~ Juliet is a new Alabama friend who shares my love of country living.  She has children, goats, chickens, a real farm, and she shares them all in lovely photos.  She is so blessed!  *(I just found out recently that Juliet has given up her farm animals and pulled her web page.  She loved her livestock, but leads a very busy life, and so I certainly understand her hard decision!)
  2. Scratch and Peck ~  Lauren is the gifted proprietor of this website.  Her chicken’s stories are spun out of love for them through her talented illustrations and wonderful humor!  She writes children’s books about their antics too!
  3. Luci!  ~  Luci has been my friend for a very long time.  She is so talented and I am envious of what she can accomplish with pastels, paper and scissors!  She blogs, but IMHO not nearly so much as she could, or I would like.  But then, when you illustrate all your blog entries, plus live a very busy life, well, then you get what she can offer  when she has the time.
  4. Tales from the Coop Keeper ~ Jayme is the kind of friend I wish I had living next door to me.  She’s fun to be with, domestically talented, hilarious, loves her chickens and her gardens, makes instructional videos on various topics, and often she is inspirational.  It is uncanny how her inspiration will come when needed most.  How does she know?   Through her videos you will learn how to make anything from  laundry soap to bread, how to harvest your bees honey, and more!  Mostly, she makes me laugh.  Why?  Because I recognize myself in much that she says and does.
  5. jmgoyder ~  Julie is an Australian bird lover who cares for all sorts of feathered friends from chickens to emus!  She also has a talent for writing, as in, she’ll have you laughing one moment and in tears the next!  She is new to blogging, but I think she has flair!

So that’s my list.  I’m sorry that it falls far short of the requested 15, but really 15 is a very tall order, don’t you think?

Cindy, Thank you so much for thinking of me and the nomination.  It makes me smile to know that you enjoy reading my adventures with your morning tea.

~*~

PS:  Would someone kindly tell me how to put this award into my sidebar?  Thanks!  🙂

Once Upon a Time in the West: an encounter with tribulous terrestris

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Today when browsing my email I read a post from a friend at bdale56, which led me to follow a link to littlesundog  .   I was curious about the blog’s name, as Little Sun Dog is what we sometimes call Tucker.   Therein, she had posted about ‘Damnable Weeds,’ and discussed the Goatshead bur.   That caused me to recall a time from my early childhood…

English: Tribulus terrestris (flower). Locatio...

Image via Wikipedia

The Goat’s Head Bur ~  looks tame, flower is cute, BUT… Read on friends.

Oh, how I remember those goat’s head burs!  My first, and worst, memory was from when I was a child of four.  I ran out into the field near our new house to catch a kitten and got stuck in the biggest sticker patch ever.  It had to be ten feet in any direction and I was right smack in the middle of it before I even registered the pain of my predicament.   With each step the bottoms of my little feet would become  covered in those evil stickers.  It was, as you might imagine, like walking on thumbtacks.  I lifted a foot, pulled them out, took a step and picked up more of the evil seed heads.

Tribulus terrestris L. - puncturevine thorns

Image via Wikipedia

Evil seed heads

Screaming and wailing piteously had  alerted a young teen passing by the field.  He yelled over to me and asked, “Do you need some help?”

To which I yelled back, “Nooooo!” 

Seriously.  My parents had raised me to never-ever talk to strangers, and he was a stranger.

Ignoring my protest, he crossed the field and came to my rescue.   Scooping  me up in his arms, he carried me out of the field, then sitting down, he carefully pulled each and every sticker out of my little feet.  My little face was hot, red, and covered in tears by the time he had finished.  I remember thanking him as he got up to continue his walk on down the road.  You know, I never saw him again, but he was at the top of my Hero list for a very long time!

~*~

Now you and I know that pulling weeds is not a chore that is enjoyed by anyone, especially a child,   and as I learned young to hate the weed, well eradication was never a chore!   In fact, I rather took joy in seeking them out and pulling them up as soon as I spotted them, anywhere, any time.

~*~

I am so glad that the evil Goat’s Head weed does not grow here.